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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a weekly columnist and senior writer for The American Prospect. He also writes for the Plum Line blog at The Washington Post and The Week and is the author of Being Right is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success.

Recent Articles

Late last week, we heard that Republicans and Democrats in Congress may have an agreement to delay -- at least for two weeks -- the looming shutdown of the federal government. To keep the government running, the two parties will have to come to an agreement on the budget for the remainder of the year. But things don't look good, since the fundamental disagreement between the parties remains unchanged: Republicans want radical cuts to the programs Democrats like, and Democrats don't want them. If those two weeks run out without an agreement, hundreds of thousands of workers will be furloughed, government offices will close, and services will be curtailed. Given that a shutdown is still more likely than not, this becomes the most important question: How will it end? The factors leading us toward a shutdown are precisely those that will make ending it so difficult. It's safe to say that House Speaker John Boehner doesn't want a shutdown; he was around in 1995 and 1996, when Republicans...

Then-acting Chief Justice Brent Benjamin, listening in 2008 to arguments in a rehearing of a $76 million judgment awarded to Harman Mining against Massey Energy (AP Photo/Bob Bird, File)

Most of us will never be indicted for a crime or involved in a lawsuit, but imagine that you were. What sort of person would you want the judge to be? Impartial, of course. Wise, learned, and open-minded would help, too. The judicial system's trappings send the message that judges are, in fact, all these things: Judges sit higher than everyone else in the courtroom, demand we stand at their entrance and exit, and wear priestly robes to denote their special status and mastery of sacred legal texts. They are supposed to be beyond the pettiness of momentary emotion or partisan political concerns, a class imbued with intellectual and moral superiority. Last week, the chief justice of the state of New York announced a new rule for the state's judges. Henceforth, if a lawyer who has contributed more than $2,500 to one of the judge's campaigns is slated to argue a case before the judge, the case will have to be reassigned. This rule, said The New York Times , "is believed to be the most...

Last week's news that AOL is buying The Huffington Post for a cool $315 million made me feel a bit wistful, since I too once created an online news enterprise, albeit one worth somewhat less than nine figures. It was called the Gadflyer (it's no longer live on the Web; if you want to read it today, you'll have to visit the Internet Archive ). Looking back, The Huffington Post's success sheds some light on why the Gadflyer proved unsustainable while some similar sites survived and flourished. When we began designing the Gadflyer in 2003, the idea -- not just a blog, but an "online magazine" -- was relatively novel. At the time, the liberal online world was just beginning to take shape. Though TAP 's website was created in 2002, many magazines had only the barest of an online presence, and most Americans didn't know a blog from a dog. My co-founders and I thought if we provided a lively mix of commentary and reporting, the readership would follow, and with them, the funds to continue...

In 1731, members of a "society of mutual improvement," led by 25-year-old Benjamin Franklin, decided that if they and other men they knew pooled their modest resources to purchase books, each would have access to a larger body of volumes than they could ordinarily afford. Fifty men were quickly recruited to pay 40 shillings each, and America's first lending library, the Library Company of Philadelphia (which still exists today ) was born. Soon, similar "subscription libraries" were sprouting up all over the country. "These libraries," Franklin would write in his autobiography, "have improved the general conversation of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps have contributed in some degree to the stand so generally made throughout the colonies in defense of their privileges." At a time when members of one particular political faction are trying to claim that the legacy of the Founders belongs solely to...

Republicans in the Iowa Legislature are currently attempting to undo gay marriage in the state, which was mandated by a decision of the state's Supreme Court in 2009. The measure has passed the Republican-controlled state House, but faces a tougher time in the Democrat-controlled Senate. During a hearing in the House, legislators heard from this college student (via BoingBoing ): That is one seriously self-possessed 19-year-old. -- Paul Waldman